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When John Caldwell of the Edison Electric Institute began a microgrid task force a few years ago, the utilities that joined saw no need to meet more than annually. Now they want to meet monthly, reflecting what Caldwell sees as exponential growth in utility microgrids.

“Long term, energy management is probably the single biggest driver of economic success in the cannabis market,” Hade says. “Today, energy costs represent anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of a cultivation facility’s total operating costs. That percentage will almost certainly go up as the cultivation process becomes increasingly automated, which is already happening.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and similar organizations from Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan joined forces this week to support modernizing the grid and including microgrids as part of the backbone.

More than one billion people don’t have access to electricity, according to the International Energy Association. Microgrids can operate independently of larger grids, helping to offset any disturbances.

All microgrids offer greater electric reliability. But the clean energy microgrid does more. It also reduces carbon emissions and helps organizations reach sustainability goals—an achievement increasingly valued by the healthcare community, business customers, government constituents, and college students, parents and donors.

If we want a livable climate for future generations, we need to slow, stop, and reverse the rise in global temperatures. To do that, we need to stop burning fossil fuels for energy. To do that, we need to generate lots of carbon-free electricity and get as many of our energy uses as possible (including transportation […]

We so take the electricity infrastructure for granted that we fail to recognize it as a potent public policy tool for economic revitalization. Of all large infrastructures in the United States, nothing is more poised for transformative change, with a host of long- and short-term benefits, as today’s electricity delivery system — not roads, not […]